Tracy Frech, MD, MSCI, has been named to direct the division of Rheumatology and Immunology in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and will assume the new role Sept. 1. She succeeds Leslie Crofford, MD, Wilson Family Professor of Medicine, who has led the division since 2014.
“Dr. Frech is a devoted teacher and mentor and has been the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials and collaborative efforts defining effective monitoring and treatments for systemic sclerosis patients. She will bring insight and vision to an outstanding division currently being led by Dr. Crofford,” said Jane Freedman, MD, professor of Medicine, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, interim chair of the Department of Medicine, physician-in-chief for VUMC and the Gladys Parkinson Stahlman Professor of Cardiovascular Research.
The Division of Rheumatology and Immunology is committed to excellence in clinical care, education and research that benefit patients with systemic autoimmune and musculoskeletal disorders. Rheumatic diseases affect the joints, muscles and bones. Arthritis can cause pain, swelling, stiffness, deformities and functional impairment. Systemic autoimmune diseases can involve almost any organ system.
Frech, who joined VUMC in 2021 after serving as the director of the systemic sclerosis (SSc) clinic of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City since 2007, is excited about the opportunity to lead the division.
“It is an honor to work with the Vanderbilt Rheumatology and Immunology faculty, who are well recognized as thought leaders in the field,” Frech said. “I look forward to building upon our solid foundation to further develop our national recognition for excellence in teaching and clinical care as well as our international reputation for clinical and translational research.”
Frech’s primary goal in research and clinical care is early diagnosis and effective treatment of SSc through meticulous patient phenotyping. As a result of her work with interdisciplinary investigative teams, SSc is now being more effectively investigated as vascular leak and endothelial dysfunction with resultant fibrosis.
Crofford joined VUMC as associate director of Rheumatology and Immunology in 2013 after serving as chief of the Division of Rheumatology and the University of Kentucky, Lexington, since 2004. Her research is focused on understanding autoimmunity, inflammation, pain and stress as mediators of rheumatic diseases.
She is a past president of the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation (now the Rheumatology Research Foundation) and served on the executive committee of the Board of Directors for the American College of Rheumatology. Other significant leadership positions she has held include service on the American Board of Internal Medicine for Rheumatology and the Advisory Council to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
“It has been my honor to serve as division director for the last 10 years, and I am absolutely delighted that Dr. Frech will assume this leadership role,” Crofford said. “She is tremendously talented and will bring her considerable skills to continuing the strategic growth of rheumatology at VUMC.”